Outside of the Box
by Zetharin
Summary: Stephanie swears off men but her hormones disagree and a Merry Man convinces her that swearing off 'normal' sex doesn't mean that everything else has to be off of the table. There are times when thinking outside of the box is fun.
1. Just a touch

_Standard disclaimer: The characters and world are not mine. I'm playing in Janet Evanovich's world, with her characters and not making any money._

**Warning:** This little short is low on plot and has mild smut in this part with increasing smut in future parts. This is part one of three. It's just fun. The idea came while listening to "The Loophole" by Garfurkel and Oates. You can go listen to it on youtube if you want. I'll wait. Done? Okay. So you've had your warning.

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Three months ago, I was sitting in my parent's dining room on a Saturday afternoon. I had stopped in at Joe's to see if Bob needed out. Joe and I were on again but Joe said he was working, which is why he wasn't spending the day with me. Well, he may have been busy with something. Two women probably needed a lot of attention. But he wasn't working at the TPD and I couldn't get the images out of my head. I had gone over to my parents' house in a daze at first but quickly turned angry.

"That's it. I'm done. I'm swearing off of men for good," I told my grandma Mazur.

She patted my shoulder awkwardly. We weren't an overly demonstrative family. "That Joe Morelli is a horse's ass. And that bounty hunter with the nice package is confused. You'll find someone baby granddaughter. Give it time."

"You should come to church with us tomorrow," my mom added as she sat a piece of pie and a short wide glass of dark liquid in front of me. The apple pie was still warm from the oven and topped with ice cream and a drizzle of caramel. I moaned as I took my first bite. Then tears threatened as I recognized my own moan as very similar to the one Terry had been making when I caught her with Morelli and that woman I didn't recognize in his kitchen. I took a gulp of the dark liquid and the icy alcohol burned down my throat. "You could confess to the priest and make a pledge. They have these purity rings for women who have gone astray and wish to wait for marriage to have sex again."

"I'm not getting married again, mom."

"Widow Duncan got herself a purity ring and got her hymen repaired. Didn't last more than a few months before she got married to Mr. Kowalski because he was so excited to be with a virgin," Grandma said. "You should do that."

"I'm not having surgery on my hooha grandma."

"Well, you said you wanted to swear off men," mom pointed out.

"It's just a mindset," I protested. "I'm not going to worry about a boyfriend or men at all right now. I'm going to work on me and get more friendly with my gun and better at my job."

"Then it can't hurt to confess and get the purity ring, can it?" mom asked. "You can look at it and pray. Lean on God a little when things get hard."

Somehow, they convinced me to do it and that Sunday, I made my pledge and got my silver purity ring band. It had a little cross engraved on the outside and the inside said, "love waits." Monday, I had picked up my files at Vinnie's. Then with renewed enthusiasm, I called Rangeman Trenton and asked if someone would have any time to help me in the shooting range. They were pretty enthusiastic about the idea. Tank had been left in charge of Trenton when Ranger took off for Miami and I didn't want to take advantage of the merry men so we worked out an agreement. I spent part of each day doing searches, part training, and the rest of the time working on my skips. Frequently, I had a volunteer partner to chase after my skips with me.

Three months of overdosing on the eye candy at Rangeman with no relief in sight had been slow torture. The buildup had my hormones working on overtime. It was only a question of time before they overrode my good sense.

Lester and Erik had been talking shit to each other. I couldn't understand the spanish words but their tone and body language was clear. Erik had gotten into Lester's personal space a little. I think for intimidation factor but I moaned picturing them a little closer together than that. Traitorous hormones. Lester's sharp eyes found mine, studied my face and the way I was sitting with my legs crossed primly but squeezing slightly so I could rock against the seam of my jeans. He said something fast to Erik that made the other man chuckle slightly.

A few days later, Lester and I were alone in a bronco on a stakeout and for once, he was the chatty one and I wanted to just be quiet. "So beautiful, tell me about the purity ring?"

"It's supposed to be like a commitment to wait until marriage. No sex. It's like the mindset of a virgin again but harder because virgins don't know what they're missing."

"Why do that?"

"I really need to concentrate on me right now, Lester. I don't need to be looking for a boyfriend."

"That's fair but why do you need to be unhappy to concentrate on you?"

"It's just no sex. It's not the end of the world."

"You've been masturbating a lot then?"

"Lester! I'm not talking about this." I felt my face heat up but he didn't look at me. He kept his eyes on the skip's apartment building. That made it a little easier. "I've been trying not to. Well, mostly. I mean, like, I'm supposed to be like a virgin. Virgins worry about staying, intact, you know? No penetration. So herbert horsecock has to stay in his drawer."

"A little vibe maybe?" he suggested. "Or your showerhead?"

"Uh…"

"Come on, Beautiful, tell me all about it. You liked seeing Erik and I really close the other day. Do you fantasize about two men together or with you?"

"I can't talk about that," I insisted. I couldn't even figure out how to describe my reaction to the discussion he seemed determined to have with me. And hearing him try to get me to talk about it kinda made me hot. I blamed it on the lure of the forbidden. I crossed my legs, shifted in the seat a little so the seam of my pants rubbed my clit. I couldn't resist but as a response, settled on, "Masturbation alone isn't much fun." I could tell he wasn't satisfied with that response. "You wouldn't tell me about your sexual fantasies," I said, while hoping that I was wrong.

"I went to catholic school," he told me. The girls there were all about keeping an intact hymen for their marriage bed. The purity ring is so sexy and a challenge. There's a lot you can do without having anything in your pussy."

I squirmed in my seat. I wasn't sure if I was uncomfortable with this or turned on. It was too dark for me to tell what his physical reaction to the conversation was but his tone was low and pure sex.

"Do you want suggestions, Beautiful?"

"Lester. Please." If asked, I would have sworn that I was begging him to stop but I didn't really want him to stop. He kept talking and kept watching the skip's house. He took my hand and ran his fingers over my skin lightly, giving me contact. As he told me about the things he wanted to do to me, he pulled my hand gradually until I could feel the hardness of him outlined in his cargo pants.

"Feel what you do to me beautiful? And you feel good too. I can tell by the way you squeeze your sexy little legs together, pinching your clit. And this isn't sex. Your imaginary hymen stays intact." I looked up into his eyes and his expression was openly lustful and pure bad boy. I had to look away from the intensity of it.

"There's the skip," I said.

Lester cursed but we were both quick to get out of the bronco and we hauled the skip in without much trouble. It was one of mine, not a Rangeman skip. Piece of cake but the mood was broken.

The next day I had finished working in the gun range with Ram and on a few escape moves with Brett and was going up to four. Tank had moved up to seven since he was in charge of Trenton Rangeman now. It was another sign that Ranger wouldn't be back. Usually I used an open apartment on four to shower but a new recruit was moving into the last vacant one that day. Lester was coming out of his apartment as I tried to figure out what to do. "Use my shower, Beautiful," he told me. Then when I was really close to him, he added extra softly, "I want to be able to think about you in there." In a louder voice, he continued, "Let me just grab you a clean towel."

I thanked him and followed him into the bathroom and somehow ended up between him and the sink. He lifted me up a little to sit on it, leaning in to kiss me breathless. I grabbed a fistful of his shirt when he tried to pull back. "More," I pleaded. A hard thigh found its way between my legs and he thrust gently, alternating the amount of pressure until I came. "That was a freebie," he told me. "Got to go before I'm late. Enjoy my shower massager." He was gone before I calmed completely down from the orgasm. I showered and went upstairs to work on my searches. He wasn't on site but as I was leaving, he was returning. He greeted me the same as the other men did, not one hint of what was happening with us. I comforted myself with a pint of Ben & Jerrys and the thought that my imaginary hymen was still intact. What we had done had been a hell of a lot of fun for me but it wasn't sex.


	2. Just a taste

_Standard disclaimer: The characters and world are not mine. I'm playing in Janet Evanovich's world, with her characters and not making any money._

**Warning:** This little short is low on plot and this section contains some mild smut. This is part two of three that will be posted here. Four total but four will be a little more graphic and into NC-17 territory so it will not be posted here.

* * *

It was girls night. I had gone out with Mary Lou and Connie and Lula to a club and then a second club and maybe there had been a third. I had downed too many brightly colored drinks that hadn't tasted at all like alcohol. Sweet and warm and fuzzy. Connie's cousin, Andrew, was part of the group of goons charged with babysitting our drunk asses and he asked me where I wanted to go when we left the last club.

"Drink and dance and laugh and lie. Love the reeling midnight through," I told him. I was sure I was quoting from somewhere but my fuzzy brain didn't know from where or why. "For tomorrow we may die," I finished triumphantly.

"But alas, we never do," a voice finished for me. Lester. "Dorothy Parker. You're not going to die tonight, Beautiful. You're safe. I'm here."

"Ms. Plum?" Andrew asked again. "Where do you want to go?"

"She's not leaving with you," Lester told him. "She's coming with me."

"Ms. Rosolli told me to take Ms. Plum home," Andrew insisted. "I follow orders."

"Is okay, Andy," I said. I threw my arms around Lester's neck. "He'll take me home."

"Alright, Ms. Plum," he agreed. He was no Merry Man. Just hired muscle who would take orders. It apparently didn't occur to him to argue. "Have a nice night." And then he was gone.

Lester's arms supported me, cradled my bonelessly drunk self. I cuddled against him. I was sure he had found the club to pick up some woman for a one night stand. Lester the playboy. But he had chosen to take care of me instead of picking a girl for the night. He might not ever be a boyfriend or long term material but he cared about me. In his own way. Those mental words sparked a core of hurt within me so I pushed them away. I didn't have to think about that tonight.

"Do you want to go back to your apartment now, Beautiful?" Lester asked me.

"No," I disagreed. "Stay with you. Don't leave me. Everyone leaves me."

"I'm here, Beautiful," Lester told me.

"We're here," a second voice added. I looked up to see Eric watching us closely. Must have been Lester's back up for the night. They never even partied alone. They talked for a bit in spanish, the words flowing over me without comprehension but gentle. It didn't matter what they were discussing. They'd never leave me alone there or hurt me in any way. I was safe, much safer than I would have been with Connie's babysitter.

"Just tell us what you want to do," Lester finally said in English.

"Stay with me," I pleaded. The world was fuzzy and spinning. I needed to do anything not to be alone.

"Let's take her back to my place," Erik suggested.

"Yeah," Lester agreed. "She wouldn't want to be on the Rangeman cameras like this."

We got into an SUV. Lester held me in the backseat because I clung to him, refusing to let go. Erik drove. The area we ended up in wasn't a nice area. Dangerous for a woman alone at night though not as bad as Stark Street during the day. The alcohol was filtering out enough that I knew where we were.

"Why here?" I asked.

"It's safe," Erik told me. "No one will mess with me. Everyone minds their own business and doesn't mess with anyone else's business. Privacy even when you're surrounded by people."

We went in and up too many stairs for me to count. Lester ended up carrying me. I was so tired. It was a scary place to be for a woman alone at night but I wasn't alone. These two would never let anything bad happen to me. They tucked me into a bed. I heard them discussing floor vs couch. I'm not sure who won that coin toss because I wouldn't let go of Lester. "Stay with me," I insisted again.

"Alright, Beautiful," he told me. "Just let me get undressed." I liked that idea. He stripped to his boxers and Erik did the same before leaving the room, presumably to sleep on his own couch. I didn't care what he was doing. When he climbed into bed, I cuddled against him, my head in the special spot on his shoulder. His arm wrapped around me and holding me to his side. His other arm held the remote and he found a movie on the small TV on the dresser. "I've got you, Steph," he told me, kissing the top of my head. "Sleep for a bit." I did.

When I woke up again, the TV was still on but the arm around me was slack. They must have come to some agreement. Maybe Erik was awake and on watch. Maybe they both believed in the safety and anonymity of this small apartment in the bad area of town. Either way, I was safe with them and horny as hell. My leg was thrown over Lester's and I rocked a bit to feel my clit pinched between my body and his leg. It felt amazing and I wanted to make him feel good too. I wasn't sure how much alcohol was left in my system. Definitely enough to relax me, lower my inhibitions, but I wasn't really drunk anymore. I knew what I was doing. I hadn't been ruled by my hormones for months now but with a little alcohol added in, they were winning the battle. I knew he cared about me enough to help me out here and I wasn't breaking my promise to myself. It wouldn't be sex. We wouldn't go that far and he knew that i drew the line there. Was it so bad to want a little closeness and intimacy?

I sucked on the nipple closest to me, rolling the other between my fingers. Lester groaned and opened his eyes. Then my hand wandered down his chest, playing briefly with the top of his boxers and the hair on his thighs before sliding back up and cupping his balls, squeezing gently.

"Beautiful, you're drunk," Lester protested, his hand closing around my forearm like he was going to make me stop. I tightened my hand around his balls warningly. He couldn't have pulled my hand away without hurting himself too. When he relaxed his grip, I stroked his cock as I kissed my way down his chest. After I maneuvered him free of his boxers, I closed my mouth around his head, licking and sucking. His hands fisted on the covers.

"Stephanie," he managed to force out. "I don't want you to be pissed at me in the morning."

I lifted my head away from his body long enough to tell him, "I won't be mad. It's not sex after all. I owe you one." Then my mouth covered him again and distracted him enough that he couldn't argue anymore. His hand found it's way between my legs, playing with my clit. My lips moved against his cock as I reminded him, "No penetration," before leaning back down to tease his cock more with my tongue.

"I remember," He agreed in a husky voice. "Just trust me and let yourself go." I did and we raced each other to the peak. Later, the satisfied afterglow lured me to sleep cradled in Lester's arms with the taste of him in my mouth.


	3. Just Watching

_Standard disclaimer: The characters and world are not mine. I'm playing in Janet Evanovich's world, with her characters and not making any money._

**Warning:** This little short is low on plot and this section contains moderate smut. The smut is pretty much the only reason for the story.

* * *

The next morning was surprisingly un-awkward. Erik sat on the side of the bed and woke me with the cure. I thought at first that Lester was gone but he was in the shower, needing to rush to get in for his shift. I whined about my aching head and munched on fries in between gulps of cola. Erik listened patiently. Lester kissed my head before he left. Erik finished feeding me and then took me back to my car.

"You two are good for each other," Erik told me once I proved that I could get my POS to start.

"We're not, like, dating or anything," I told Erik.

"Maybe dating isn't a good word for it but it's a lot healthier than that shit you did with Ranger."

"What do you know about me and Ranger?" I interrupted him sharply.

"Just what everyone local to Trenton knows. Your back and forth between him and the cop. The alley stories. The way he took off to Miami as soon as it was clear you and the cop were done for good."

"Okay, and…?" I asked, torn between humiliated that everyone knew how Ranger had abandoned me and curious about where he was going with this.

"Maybe you're not forever with Lester or even pretending to be forever. That's okay. You care about each other and you're honest about your intent." I stared at him. I hadn't realized Erik could talk so much. He must have used up his allotment of words though because he just closed my door for me and left.

Work stayed normal with Lester for the next few weeks. If we saw each other, he was his usual flirty friendly self that he had always been. He was always easy and interesting to spend time with. In our off time, we spent a few evenings together talking or making out, still stopping short of sex. I was really enjoying the closeness and intimacy of having that type of friend. I was even starting to be a little more comfortable discussing my desires and fantasies with Lester. Neither Ranger nor Joe had really gotten to know me that way. The … extras … with Lester hadn't affected our friendship in a negative way or our ability to work together. They had enhanced it. I also had a blast when he took me out dancing with Erik and a few other Merry Men one Saturday night. Lester didn't get all crazy caveman jealous like Joe or Ranger tended be. He just let me have my fun.

Then one day after I had showered in his apartment, he was brushing my hair and he brought it up. "We've been enjoying each other, right?"

"Definitely," I agreed.

"And you say for you the line is your imaginary hymen. No penetration that would break it."

"Yup."

"Would you consider anal sex?" Before I could protest, his hand reached around my head and covered my mouth lightly. "Let me finish." I nodded and he released me, returning to gently taming my curls. "Lots of high school girls call anal sex God's loophole. They keep their vaginal virginity. I know this means more to you than just something to please your parents. I don't want to push you where you don't want to go. But can we discuss the possibility that it's not sex either?"

"Lester, butt stuff is penetration. That's sex, even if my imaginary hymen wouldn't be broken. Besides. I don't do butt stuff. It hurts."

"It doesn't hurt if your partner is considerate, Beautiful," Lester said. "Would I ever hurt you?"

"Not on purpose."

"So trust me a little."

"Look, if you put something the size of your own dick in your own ass, you can tell me it doesn't hurt and we can talk about it but until then, it's not an option."

"Okay. Do you want to watch or do you want pictures for proof or what?"

"You agreed to that way too easily."

Lester just gave me the playboy grin. "I've tried lots of things you probably have never considered. I'm still loving this exploration with you. Want to go to Pleasure treasures over lunch with me to pick out a dildo?"

I felt myself turn bright red. He was serious and appeared to be looking forward to it. I wondered what I had gotten myself into. "We'd better go after work instead. I don't think Tank would appreciate the two of us being so distracted by our new toy that we ended up hurt by a skip."

"Okay," he agreed easily. I handed him a small covered rubber band and he secured the bottom of my second french braid. We had discovered that he couldn't get one french braid tight enough to hold my curls under control but two french braids and a good gel could do it. Erik teased me occasionally about the pigtails but mostly, no one said anything. For office work or takedowns other than distractions, it was a practical style. Distractions needed a lot more effort but I didn't need to do them as often anymore.

Later, we ended up picking up dildos matched in size. The one intended for him was molded glass. The one intended for me was softer, the same size, but it was the triple pleasure rabbit type of vibrator. My physical hymen was already broken so that wasn't really a worry and using a dildo on myself was masturbation, not really sex. It had those soft wiggling ears for my clit, a large Lester size part for vaginal penetration, and a small attached vibrator that could be used for anal penetration at the same time. Even the thought made me nervous but that part of the vibrator was really small and flexible and I didn't HAVE to actually put it in if I didn't want to. We also picked up lube and condoms. Lester was far too comfortable in there but his nonchalance helped me get through it. By the time we checked out, I had almost forgotten that someone was sure to tell my mom about this before morning.

We stopped at Pino's to grab subs for dinner on the way back to my apartment. I worried a bit that everyone knew and was looking at me but Lester assured me that it was only my guilt talking and there was nothing to feel guilty about. We weren't having sex. I was keeping my vow.

Later, after we had eaten, we showered together. 'Not sex,' I reminded myself. And it wasn't. He washed my hair. I scrubbed his back. That he got hard and I could feel the pulse of my clit demanding more meant nothing. Sex was intent and penetration. This was taking care of each other. This was talking and maybe too close to love for my comfort. But it wasn't sex. I cuddled against him, naked skin to naked skin, loving the closeness and the feel of him until the water started to grow cold.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lester asked. "I know I was pushing earlier."

If we didn't do something, I would explode. "No touching," I replied, setting the ground rules.

"I won't touch you," he agreed, dropping my hand before sitting on the bed and reaching for the Pleasure Treasures bag. "You can feel free if you want to touch me," he added. I nodded my understanding and sat down diagonally at the far corner from where he was. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to. Just watch. That was the deal."

"Yes," I agreed. "I'll watch you prove to me that it doesn't have to hurt because you want to be buried to the hilt in my butt."

I took my triple pleasure rabbit vibe when he handed it to me, then watched mostly in curiosity as he slid a condom onto the glass dildo and then added some lube to it before laying it on my bedside table. His erection from the shower didn't begin to diminish as he used the hand with lube to probe around his own backdoor. His other hand pinched one of his nipples, then drifted south to cup his balls. His lubricated fingers slid in and out. The position looked awkward but his free hand touched his erection and he didn't seem to be in pain.

Then he reached for the glass dildo and inserted it slowly. He made a slight sound at first penetration and stopped. I couldn't decide if it was a pain sound or not. All of his muscles were tense. After a moment, he relaxed. He pumped the dildo in and out a few times, matching the tempo with strokes on his cock. The moan that followed was definitely pleasure and not pain. My fingers found their way to my clit and I started playing with it as I watched him. He seemed mostly focused on his own pleasure, not me, so I felt bold as I split my attention between his pleasure and my own until his eyes locked with mine.

"Are you going to try the rabbit?" he asked me.

I felt suddenly shy. "I'm not sure," I admitted after a moment.

"Please?" he pushed gently. His hand stilled on his cock, like whether he decided to continue hinged on whether I decided to use the rabbit. Technically he had fulfilled his part of the bargain. The dildo, which was slightly bigger than Lester's own cock, had been the whole way inside his ass and it clearly hadn't hurt too much for him to enjoy the experience.

My hand that had been working at my clit paused long enough for me to insert the rabbit's main portion and turn it on. The vibration started inside of my pussy and the rabbit's ears hit my clit, flicking it in a way that was just right. That and watching Lester rub his cock while pistoning the dildo in and out of his ass pushed me from the halfway point to on the verge of orgasm very quickly. It was hot but more than that, there was a mental high of knowing that he trusted me this much to show me something that was supposed to be private. And knowing that I was showing him the same sort of private show. I bumped the wrong control on the rabbit and the part of the vibrator that was designed to be in my ass began to vibrate too where it was pressed against my hole. It wasn't inside but those nerve endings must have been more sensitive than I had ever realized.

"Close?" I heard Lester asking as I went over the edge.

"Now," I responded. Somehow, he managed to cum just after me and as I came down from my orgasmic high, I got to watch him shoot all over his own chest. The first pulse almost reached his chin; the next few were less impressive but still copious. I had never seen that much cum from him. I was surprised to realize that having the dildo in his ass must have felt super amazing. I wondered if it would be the same for me. I didn't have a prostate but there were a lot of nerves back there. It was sensitive. For the first time, I was seeing past my instinctive fear of butt stuff and wondering. I moved across the bed in the aftermath, cuddling close to him. The rabbit dropped to the floor, mostly forgotten.

When I woke, the bedroom had a pre-dawn gray tinge that I only saw when Ranger woke me to go running. Someone I couldn't identify stood in the doorway of my bedroom, observing me and Lester. We were both still naked, though the bedspread covered most of the important parts. I was mortified to realize that the rabbit I had used the previous night was on the floor in plain sight and so was the glass dildo Lester had used, condom still on it. Before I could try to talk to the person in the doorway, Lester woke up. In one smooth move, he pulled a gun out from under the pillow and pointed it at the person in the doorway.

"Talk, leave, or die," he threatened. The figure held out his hands to show that he wasn't holding a weapon.

"If I was going to hurt you, you'd already be dead," the figure pointed out. "Too slow and careless to take care of her properly."

* * *

_**Author's Note on how to get chapter 4-** This is part 3 of the 3 that will be posted here. If you got any of the bonus scenes from Whispers of Fire AND commented on any chapter of this signed in as you, watch your email sometime before next weekend for the final chapter which contains a M/M/F graphic sexual scene. Possibly at some point, I might get around to posting all four parts to my blog and/or AO3 and/or Plum Fan Fiction Restricted yahoo group. If you want all four before then and you are not one of my loyal and dedicated reviewers (or maybe this is the first thing you've seen me post?), you can send me an email to thespiritforged at gmail dot com with a copy of the review you wrote for each chapter (3 reviews) of this story and the request to add you to the list to get the fourth chapter. Those reviews are my price for the 4th chapter as soon as it's written. No reviews means that you have to wait longer to read chapter 4 when it's convenient for me to upload it somewhere. _


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